Tutor Thoughts: How To Engage Students On Zoom

It’s been about a year since the pandemic started. I don’t know about you, but I would’ve never imagined that students wouldn’t be allowed to go to school. It might have been fun and convenient to do school online at first, but a year later, I think it’s safe to say that Zoom learning is difficult for students.  

The question is how do you make learning exciting and keep students engaged?

Let’s face it, Zoom school is hard

I’m sure for most students, including mine, that Zoom school isn’t the most exciting thing and it can be hard to focus and participate in class. I know this for a fact because my student says that her low is having to go to school. 

Zoom school is already challenging given the online format, and with students in Title 1 schools, I can only imagine how much harder it must be and how much more support they need. Zoom learning can often feel like adults are just talking to their students, rather than having an immersive experience. 

With these challenges in mind, I want to make my sessions as engaging and fun as possible. 

Making Tutoring Engaging & Fun

Volunteering with students is supposed to be fun for both you and your student, while also enhancing students’ learning. You form special bonds together over shared problem solving, story telling, and learning.

With that in mind, I tried different methods on how I could make sure that each tutoring session is both educational and something that my student looks forward to. 

The following are some of the methods that I personally use and found effective: 

• Breaking up the tutoring session into two parts

  Breaks are necessary, even with 45 minute sessions. Students who have trouble focusing will benefit from short breaks after 10-15 minutes of work. Using a 3 minute break can help refresh your student and get them to focus on the next portion of the session, because nothing is fun when you’re tired. Bonus tip: Set a timer together to practice time skills and accountability!

• Starting off with highs and lows. 

  Highs and Lows are an easy icebreaker to start your session and get your student engaged. It also helps you to get to know each other a little better. 

• Journaling about a fun topic before you get into the work for the day.

  Start with a journaling prompt or a story idea. Not only will you be improving your student’s writing and creative thinking skills, but sharing is an easy way to show your student you care. 

  For my students specifically, telling each other funny stories really gets my student to engage with me. I learned that my student was a little weak in writing, and I wanted her to write a story about something that she was familiar with and fun. I asked her to write about her funniest memory. After she was done writing and telling me her story, she asked me what my funniest memory was. I was so pleased because up to this point, she never asked me about my opinion or questions in general! I was usually the one asking questions, and sometimes it was really hard to tell if she was getting anything out of our session or not. Throughout the session, I would turn our breaks into sharing funny stories that have happened to us or someone around us. 

Relationship is key 

I know that through these tactics and stories, I’m not only making tutoring fun, but I’m also building trust and genuine interaction. Having an authentic relationship with my student will only help my student be successful in school during this time and beyond. 

Whether it’s through funny stories or discussing highs and lows, Step Up Tutoring encourages all their volunteer tutors to find their own ways to engage their students and make tutoring fun! If you want to create a fun and education environment while making meaningful relationships, volunteer with Step Up Tutoring. Two hours of your time can change the life of a student. 

Today’s Tutor Thoughts are brought to you by Esther Chung, a volunteer tutor.